Potential Trojan Account Threat, LFR, Flex, and the Group Finder in WoD

It's been slow over the holidays for Blizzard posts, but today we've got a discussion on LFR, Flex, and the new Group Finder tool in Warlords of Draenor. Many players dissatisfied by the impersonal and unchallenging aspects of LFR have since embraced Flex, which allows them to have meaningful progression with friends on a busy schedule.

Due to the success of Flex raiding, Blizzard is implementing a new Group Finder tool in Warlords of Draenor so people can find cross-realm groups for pretty much everything. The addition of the Group Finder tool may even lead to some LFR tuning changes--since raiders on a busy schedule will be drawn towards the Group Finder instead of LFR.

Edit: Blizzard Customer Support just posted an alert about a Trojan virus that can compromise accounts even with an authenticator. So far there is no easy way to remove it besides reformatting your system, but Blizzard has posted instructions on what to do if your account has been recently compromised.

Trojan Threat

Blizzard

Hello,

We've been receiving reports regarding a dangerous Trojan that is being used to compromise player's accounts even if they are using an authenticator for protection. The Trojan acts in real time to do this by stealing both your account information and the authenticator password at the time you enter them.

If your account has been compromised recently, I'd recommend looking for the Trojan. It can be identified by creating an MSInfo file and then looking in the Startup Program section of that file for either "Disker" or "Disker64". It will usually appear like this:

We are currently looking for more information on the Trojan. We have not been able to locate any anti-virus programs that will remove it besides just reformatting your system. If you have been recently compromised and find it on your system please reply with the following pieces of information.

Your MSInfo.

A list of any addons you recently installed along with where you got them.

A list of any programs you recently installed along with where you got them.

Any security programs you have run and their results.

______________________________Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm Pacific Time

LFR, Flex, and the Group Finder in WoD

Lore

Raid Finder currently struggles from a bit of a double identity. On one side of things, we want it to be a fun, low-stress environment for people who want to be able to experience new raids, but would rather not devote the necessary time from their week that joining a full-time raid team can often require. Something that you can just jump into, see the new bosses, and be done with in, say, an hour or so, without too much concern.

At the same time, however, Raid Finder has been trying to fill in as a form of endgame progression for a lot of players. There's a very real difference between the casual player who just wants to see the new stuff, and the raider who can't commit to a regular team but still wants some meaningful progression. Prior to Patch 5.4, Raid Finder was all that player really had, so we wanted to provide them as much gameplay as we could while still considering the needs of the "sightseer". Not exactly an easy task, and although we've been happy with what we've accomplished so far, we feel we can do better.

That's where Flexible Mode came in. We've been absolutely thrilled to see how well Flex has worked out, not just technically but also in how much the community has embraced it. We originally designed the feature focused on smaller or less hardcore guilds who maybe couldn't guarantee a full roster every time they wanted to raid, but we've been pleased to see that it's also been working extremely well for pick up groups (particularly through third-party services such as OpenRaid or oQueue).

In Warlords of Draenor, we're implementing a completely new Group Finder, which will allow players to find or create cross-realm groups for pretty much anything, including raids. We think that sort of environment -- finding an organized group, with a leader, and strategy, and possibly even using voice chat -- will be much more appealing and enjoyable for the player who craves an endgame raiding experience but can't find a team that fits their schedule. Plus, having an easy-to-use in-game Group Finder will, we believe, make finding such a group just as easy as queueing for Raid Finder (or easier, if you often find yourself in Raid Finder groups you'd rather not be a part of).

That, in turn, will allow us to take another look at Raid Finder and how exactly it should be tuned. I don't have any specifics to share (we simply aren't at that point in development yet), but our hope is that we'll be able to better provide for both the "busy raider" and "sightseer" styles of gameplay as a result.

In summary: if you're looking for meaningful endgame raid experience, we'd like you to do Flex, and we want to make it easier for you to do that. If you'd just like to see new stuff (or even just take a laid-back approach to raiding), we'd like you to use Raid Finder, and we want to make sure that's fun for you.It's not set in stone, but our current plan is to allow group leaders to set their own restrictions (such as ilevel) when using the Group Finder tool. We'd rather allow players to be upfront about such things than create a situation where an undergeared player is joining groups just to be immediately kicked as soon as the leader inspects them.

Edit for clarity: That also means that we're not planning on having any pre-set restrictions, though again, plans could change.Just like non-Group Finder parties, the leader (or anyone they've promoted to assistant) will be able to kick players they feel necessary at any time.

Comments

Comment by stym

on 2014-01-02T15:58:31-06:00

This is exactly what I expected from Blizzard: I used to stick to Raid Finder because I can never invest the time needed to do normal raiding and I still wanted the best and shiniest gear - and raiding fun - my schedule would allow.This worked pretty well for me in Cataclysm and early MoP, but ended up being a terrible experience starting with patch 5.4. With 13 available LFR segments, the queuing times became unreasonably long. People would rage quit after each wipe, and if that happened to the healers or tanks, odds were I was better off leaving too. My realm is not densely populated and Flex opportunities were scarce.Then I installed oQueue. That completely changed my experience.Now, raiding in a smaller group with people who actually try to play as well as they can is a really fun experience!So, having a similar tool without the need for an addon in WoD? Yes, please! I'm very much looking forward to that expansion!

Comment by Nathan56798

on 2014-01-02T16:08:54-06:00

Hopefully, the majority of the players didint get this trojan virus, and to any who did, I wish you luck on getting your account and anything you may have lost returned!

Comment by Nathan56798

on 2014-01-02T16:17:47-06:00

Hmm, I just logged in, and I'm unaware of anyone else having this issue, and I don't know if this is related to the virus, but my Game Screen has gone all fuzzy, ingame, Load Screen, and Character selection Screen, Also in the Character selection screen the Create new character and Delete character, there bars go all the way across the screen width wise, I hope this can be fixed soon, only bringing it to this forum because I haven't heard of anyone having a similar issue, and seeing this virus, I believe it may have caused this.

Comment by Adabella

on 2014-01-02T16:36:02-06:00

That sounds like a graphics card issue, not a virus.

Comment by Dyingsoul

on 2014-01-02T16:49:18-06:00

I would suggest if you do actually get this virus, that you make a backup of your system with it on and sandbox it; in order to develop an antivirus algorithm for this it needs to be contained and tested on, from what I understand.

Comment by DartVader

on 2014-01-02T17:35:48-06:00

well, goes to prove once again that no security is 100% impenetrable. The pessimist in me was wondering when a virus like this would come out. At the same time, though, it appears that those who are being hit by this are mostly those who use disreputable sites to get addons and other software. Just goes to show that caution is always advisable, even with the best security available.

Comment by Traynwreck

on 2014-01-02T20:18:04-06:00

It is a trojan designed to steal data. It is not going to screw with your graphics. That's like thinking you car turns left poorly because you have low windshield wiper fluid; the two things are issues, and both are car related, but neither is truly causing or affecting the other.

That said, looking forward to this Group Finder feature. Hopefully, by bridging the gaps between the separate desolate servers, Blizzard can re-instill some of that comradery and friendship that was around in vanilla.

Comment by angelspike

on 2014-01-02T20:41:27-06:00

the worst thing about lfr is the fact sometimes when you queue you get put in 3 bosses down the line because of tanks or healers rage quitting. blizzard you should put an option in to say full run only or something or let people know what boss they going in at before they enter. many a lfr when a few dps have left and then we wait and some join to see a certain boss is dead and go sod this. with the pre option of seeing who's dead you can save a lot of hassle. with pugs and flex people say from such and such boss so you decide wether to join or not. lfr no such luxury

Comment by tmelton

on 2014-01-02T21:26:39-06:00

i used to love running LFR to cap valor or to gear up so i can get better get even to find a good flex run just saw someone post flex 1-2 ilvl 550 wtf im looking to run to get better gear so i can TRY to find a reg raid grp now cant do that ppl in LFR like to facepull its retarded thinking of quitting

Comment by Zerole

on 2014-01-02T21:47:17-06:00

I'm a bit confused, did they just throw the Trojan warning into another thread or how is it related to a not yet released expansion?

Comment by Emma80

on 2014-01-02T22:27:32-06:00

I'm a bit confused, did they just throw the Trojan warning into another thread or how is it related to a not yet released expansion?

Hello, it was just the way this Wowhead news article was named, it is names for all the related blue posts of note for now. One is about the Trojan.

Comment by Interest

Comment by Rankkor

on 2014-01-03T01:20:02-06:00

I wonder where this Trojan came from...hrm...

Duh, it came from Troy.

In all seriousness, now I'm scared to log in T_T

This account is the only one I have, and due to complications with acquiring games on my country, it simply cannot be replaced if lost. (not that it matters, if I ever lose my account I probably won't have the willpower to start over from zero and have to do everything again, not to mention several no-longer available goodies I have)

I hope that trojan issue gets solved soon. Not downloading any addons or updates to addons for at least a month now >_> one can't be too careful.

Comment by Aislinge

on 2014-01-03T01:26:43-06:00

Anything to get rid of OQ - aside from the annoying spam, I don't believe in addons. If something is so good, it should be built into the game. Again, it's good to see that Blizzard are responsive enough that they saw that it worked and have swallowed up the idea so that everyone can enjoy it on an even footing.

Comment by Interest

on 2014-01-03T05:21:12-06:00

Anything to get rid of OQ - aside from the annoying spam, I don't believe in addons. If something is so good, it should be built into the game. Again, it's good to see that Blizzard are responsive enough that they saw that it worked and have swallowed up the idea so that everyone can enjoy it on an even footing.

Maybe while they're at it they can implement something like RSA into the game...

(Lol actually...maybe not...)

Comment by Jkpman

on 2014-01-03T05:33:00-06:00

I hope that trojan issue gets solved soon. Not downloading any addons or updates to addons for at least a month now >_> one can't be too careful.

The blue post tells you how to detect it.If you are worried simply run MSinfo, check your startup programs for Disker and if it's clear then you are uninfected.

As with all viruses the scanners are really far behind, but it will not take long before this can be easily removed.

Comment by Uuneya

on 2014-01-03T05:37:56-06:00

If something is so good, it should be built into the game.

I find addons useful, but I definitely agree with this point. Just got done running LFR for fun, and frankly I feel bad for new players who don't know what DBM is. Most players don't read the forums or post on fan sites, so the only way they'd know about raid addons is if someone tells them. Same thing with PVP - once you have all the 'right' addons it's almost a different game. I don't want Blizzard to remove addons from the game, but I do think they should put more thought into why we have so many 'mandatory' addons out there.

To me addons should be niche or for flavor/tweaks, not something that a new player is insulted for not having installed. Of course vets shouldn't be belittling new players in the first place but that's a whole different topic.

Comment by Maurvyn

on 2014-01-03T06:42:05-06:00

Until Blizzard implements some feature to address player behavior, I and many of my guildies will not be running LFR again, and this includes any new Finder tools. The constant griefing, yelling, raging, and general lack of any accountability drove me out. LFR has become just like random PvP ; a few competent, decent players overshadowed by %^&*!@baggery and horrible behavior, which Blizzard has done nothing to curb or discourage.If Blizz tries to make WoD even worse than MoP for the insistence on raiding requirements (by which I mean that you are required to raid in order to complete much of the end game content, there are no other options), they will be further alienating that piece of their player base that wants an enjoyable gaming experience without the drama.

Comment by rinkworks

on 2014-01-03T08:20:18-06:00

the worst thing about lfr is the fact sometimes when you queue you get put in 3 bosses down the line because of tanks or healers rage quitting. blizzard you should put an option in to say full run only or something or let people know what boss they going in at before they enter. many a lfr when a few dps have left and then we wait and some join to see a certain boss is dead and go sod this. with the pre option of seeing who's dead you can save a lot of hassle. with pugs and flex people say from such and such boss so you decide wether to join or not. lfr no such luxury

If they did this, every single time a tank or healer or a few dps ragequit, EVERYBODY might as well leave because they'd NEVER get replacement people. Result? Very tiny percentage of people who actually ever get to finish LFR.